Steam-boiler furnace



2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

(No Model.)

J. GANNAN. STEAM BOILER FURNACE. No. 339,143. Pa't'ented Apr. 6, 1886Jinesaes. Irv-u .16 M. W M

' I 1 71 118 fliiov'neys.

[Tens nwwmmgn w. Wnhinglnn. n c.

llhvrrnn STATES PATENT OFFIoE.

.TAllIE-S GANNAN, OF FLGIN, ILLINOIS.

STEAM-BOILER FURNACE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 339,143, dated April 6,1886.

App ication filed November 21. 1885. Serial No. 183,516. (X0 model.)

To (LZZ whom it may concern:

Be itk n own that I, JAMES OANNAN, of Elgin, in the county of Kane andState of Illinois, haveinvented certain new and useful ImproveinentsinSteam-BoilerFurnaces; and Idohereby declare the following to be a full,clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to theaccompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, and to thefigures and letters of reference marked thereon.

My invention has for its object to further utilize theheat and theproducts of combustion from the fires employed to heat gas-retorts inthe manufacture of illuminating gas; and it consists in a certainarrangement of devices whereby the heat and products passing around theretorts are conveyed to a steam-boiler or other suitable furnace andthere used again for generating steam, and also in certain improveddevices for maintaining a constant flow of the heated airand products ofcombustion, all as will be hereinafter described.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l is a cross sectional view of anordinary gasgenerating furnace, showing a portion of my invention. Fig.2 is a longitudinal sectional view of the same, taken on the line a m ofFi 1. Fig. 3 is an end, and Fig. 4. a longitudinal sectional, view of asteamboilcr furnace provided with my improvements.

Similar letters of reference in the several figures indicate the sameparts.

Referring to Figs. 1. and 2, A represents the hot-air chamber of thegeneratingfurnace, and B B I; the retorts placed therein and preferablyover the fire, as shown. The heated air and products of combustion,rising, pass over and around the retorts to the back end of the chamberA, and then return to the front end in the lines (I) beneath the twolower retorts, then pass backward in the flue D to the chimney or stack1), where they are usually discharged into the open air. The temperatureof the heated air and products when discharged into the chimney isveryhigh, havingbeen lowered very little, if any, by their passagethrough the several flues, as the walls of the latter are highly heated,and they have heretofore been discharged into the open air without beingutilized in any manner; but by my invention, instead of allowing thisheat to pass up the chimney,I provide a flue or conduit,F,and a damper,

E, pivoted to the back of the chimney, adapted when moved to theposition shown in full lines in Fig. 1, to cause thehot airand productsfrom the furnace to pass downward into the flue or conduit F, extending,preferably, beneath the surface of the ground to a steamboiler or othersuitable furnace, constructed as shown in Figs. 3 and 4. From thehorizontal fine or conduit F there rises a fine, G, extending up intothe space H beneath the boiler (in the furnace shown in Figs. 3 and 4)just back of the grate I. The upper end of this flue G is adapted to beclosed, when desired, by a tile dooror damper, J, operated by means of arod, j extending through a tube, j, preferably placed between thegrate-bars of the furnace. At the back end of the grate is provided atile partition, K, which is removable, and is for the purpose ofpreventing the admittance beneath the boiler of cold air through thefire'chamber. The heat enteringthe space H from the flue passes backwardbeneath the boiler X and forward again through the tubes of the same tothe front of the furnace, where it enters the chamber Y and isdischarged into the chimney or stack L.

The object in placing the rod for operating the damper J in the tubebetween the gratebars, and in providing the removable partition K,is toadmit of a fire in the grate of the furnace while repairing the conduitF, for instance, or any other purpose, and all that is necessary to fitit for operation is to close the damper J and remove the partition K, aswill be readily understood.

In order to assist in maintaining a draft through the conduit F from thegenerator toward the furnace, and also to provide for the generation ofa highly-combustible gas, I place in the lower flue, D, of the generatora tile pipe or conduit, M, extending from the front of the furnace tothe rear and downward a short distance into the flueF, having a flaringmouth, M, and place a small steamjet, N, therein for drawing in throughthe flaring mouth the cold external air and discharging it, togetherwith the superheated steam and gases,into the conduit F at the rear ofthe generator. An opening having asuitable damper, 01.,is provided inthe pipe for admitting asuitable quantity of the heated air and productsof combustion to combinewith the external air and form ahighly-combustible gas, which will burn with intense heat at the end ofthetube, thus not only assisting the draft, but also adding to the heatin the conduit F.

The operation of the device will now be apparent. When the fire in thegas-generatoris first started, or it is not desirable or necessary tohave the boiler-furnace heated from it, the damper E is turned to theposition shown in dotted lines in Fig. 2, and the heat and productsallowed to pass up the chimney D; but when it is desired to heat theboiler-furnace the damper is turned to the position shown in full lines,and, if desired, the steam-jet N is opened, forcing in air and steamthrough the highly-heated pipe and generating a combustible gas, whichburns in the conduit F. The valve J at the end of the conduit beingopen, the heat and products pass up under the boiler and back throughthe tubes thereof, and are finally discharged into the stack L.

The advantages gained by the employment of my invention are numerous andwill be readily understood. For instance, I am enabled to utilize heatand gases heretofore wasted, and to produce a higher degree of heat thancan be produced with a bed of coals directly under the boiler.

I claim as my invention 1. The combination, with a gas-generatingapparatus and the furnace thereof, of a conduit leading from saidfurnace to the combustionchamber of a steam-boiler, and a supplementalconduit within the first-mentioned conduit and communicating therewith,into which a portion of the gases are diverted and mingled with air,steam, or other material, wherebya combustible gas will be generated anda more perfect combustion of the gases and products from thegas-generating furnace will be secured, substantially as described.

2. The combination, with a gas-generating apparatus and the furnacethereof, of a conduit leading from said furnace to thecombustion-chamber of a steam-boiler or other furnace, a supplementalconduit placed within the former and communicating therewith and withthe external air, and having a steam-jet therein,and a damper forregulating the amount of hot air and gases admitted to said supplemental conduit, substantially as described.

3. The combination, with the furnace, of a gas-generator, the conduit F,the supplemental conduittherein communicating with the external air, andthe steam-jet, substantially as described.

4. The combination, wit-h the furnace, of a gas-generator, the conduitconnecting it with a steam-boiler or other furnace, the damper J, havingthe operating-rod extending to the outside of the furnace,and theremovable partition K, substantially as described.

- JAMES CANNAN.

\Vitnesses:

EZRA RUE, F. J. FOSTER.

